


It's Where My Demons Hide

by Harbinger



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies), The Avengers (2012)
Genre: F/M, Mind Games, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Torture, a really creepy villain, possible dub-con situations, possible major character death
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-12
Updated: 2013-11-06
Packaged: 2017-12-19 05:21:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/879913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Harbinger/pseuds/Harbinger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five years ago, the crew of the U.S.S <i>Avenger</i> vanished without a trace. Newly Captained Maria Hill and the crew of the U.S.S <i>Shield</i> gain permission to go searching for the missing ship and end up finding one of the most dangerous men Starfleet - and Maria - has ever known.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> For some reason (I blame my Maria and Clint on tumblr) I'm attempting my second chaptered fic. I know only the very basics of Star Trek so please forgive inaccuracies. This is very loosely beta'd, though probably more than anything else I've put up. I have up to seven chapters outlined and plotted. Chapters may be somewhat slow to come. Questions can be asked [here](http://tricksteringreen.tumblr.com/ask).

  
"Captain," Commander Barnes slid his fingers over the display before him, frowning at it, "we have a vessel coming up before us."

The blond sitting at the chair leaned forward a bit, pressing a button to open all channels to attempt to hail the ship. "Attention, approaching ship, this is Captain Steven Rogers of the U.S.S  _Avenger_. Identify yourself." He ordered firmly through the channels, listening carefully. Nothing in his voice gave away his tension, but the crew sitting around him could see it building in the set of his broad shoulders. Most approaching vessels made contact long before they ever came into sight on the radar, just to alert the other ship as a precaution. This one had not done so and it set them all on edge immediately.

The first officer moved forward, letting the lieutenants take care of trying to hail the ship and stood at the side of his Captain. "Don't look like no Fed ship, Cap," Barnes said quietly, frowning down at the screen that the helmsman looked at. "She's too damn big, for one. And there's nothing to identify her." In fact, the only splash of colour on the otherwise black ship was the massive semblance of a wolf, painted dark green and outlined in gold. The ship dwarfed their own vessel, at least three times the size. Barnes and Captain Rogers could see even from as far away as they were that the ship was armed much more heavily than the  _Avenger_  was.

"No, I don't think she is," the Captain agreed with a frown. "All the same, she might need some help or have news." Yet the Captain was worried and it showed in the deep frown that currently held his face captive. "Shields," he said quietly, wanting to make certain that they were protected. Just because they'd been caught briefly unawares due to the silent approach did not mean they could not defend themselves given cause.

"This is Captain Rogers of the U.S.S  _Avenger_  and we ask you again, identify yourself!" He commanded once more through the broadcasting channels, lifting his head high to hide the worry that he currently felt.

"Captain Rogers," a cultured voice purred, sounding as though it was coming from the bridge, just feet away from where Rogers sat. "What an  _honor_ , though I'm afraid you will disagree with me." The voice denoted its speaker as male, with a rich, amused accent that none of them could place.

A sudden whine emitted from engines and the entire ship sharply listed to the right; warnings began to blare loudly as the shields suddenly dropped. It was the only warning before a loud boom sounded from below and the ship shuddered.

"Get those shields back up,  _now!"_  Captain Rogers ordered, "Get our weapons back to functioning and return fire!"

"Cap, shields have been disabled from within!" Barnes yelled, he and a lieutenant working frantically to try and get their systems back to working. 

"Weapons systems non-responsive, Captain!" Another crewman yelled, as another blast shook the ship. Warnings popped up on holographic screens, alerting the crew that the ship was taking heavy fire and that her systems were failing, one by one. Klaxon sirens screeched sonorously throughout the ship.

"Oh no, my dear Captain," came that smooth murmur of a voice once more. "There will be no escaping from this. You see, you have something I desire - information on Starfleet and the Federation and I intend to take it from you." 

The ship shook again, listing even further to the right as her gravitation systems began to go. Captain Rogers came to his feet, snarling orders left and right to try and get things back to working so that they could get the hell out of this situation. 

"Get us turned around and into warp, now, Barney! Do it!" 

The disembodied voice uttered a low, soft laugh and they could almost hear its owner shaking his head. "I have disabled everything about this vessel, Captain Rogers. Surrender yourself and I will allow your crew members to live for now."

"Don't do it, Cap!" Barnes yelled, standing over a display and working with desperate, shaking fingers to get their systems back online and running properly in order to get them out. "None of us are worth what that freak wants! Don't you dare!"

"No?" The voice murmured, sounding thoroughly disappointed. "Very well, then. If you refuse, then I will take by force. Say goodbye to your crewmen, Captain Rogers. I will see you shortly."

"Coward!" A man everyone called Barney yelled, voice angry.

A pause, a slight noise like an intake of breath, and they could hear the smile. "Fire all."

The  _Avenger_  groaned under the sudden assault, unable to take it without her shields. Screams began to sound through the roar of the larger vessel's guns as the crew were hit and killed. With all of her systems disabled, there was nothing the crew could do but hold on and try to ride out the attack as best as they could. 

It took only two minutes before the assault on the  _Avenger_  found her core and it exploded in a ball of flame; the last thing Captain Rogers knew was strong arms around his waist and then everything turned black.

\--

_June 18th, 2260,_

_It is with great disappointment that Starfleet is to report that her flagship, the U.S.S_ Avenger _suddenly halted all communications with Starfleet last night at approximately 1600 hours. Her systems went offline two minutes later and she has not been heard from since. Rescue ships have been sent to her last recorded location in an attempt at search and rescue._

_June 22nd, 2260_

_It is with the utmost sadness that Starfleet reports that all searches for the U.S.S_ Avenger _have been recalled to Earth. No trace has been found of vessel or crew and Starfleet has not the forces to dedicate a search any longer._

_July 5th, 2260_

_The crew of the U.S.S_ Avenger _and her captain are now believed to have been killed in action by an unknown assailant. Starfleet's thoughts and prayers are with their families. Donations for the families will be accepted through Starfleet and appropriated as needed._


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most likely the chapters will get longer as I write. I've sketched up to chapter 7 out and chapter 2 is written, just needs editing. It should go up this weekend, if I can get chapter 4 started :3 Thanks for reading and as ever, questions can be asked [here](http://tricksteringreen.tumblr.com). All mistakes are mine, the curse of not having a beta!

The brunette tapped lightly on the partially open door to her superior's office and entered when the man grunted to bid her inside. The office was as dull and spartan as ever, though she had not expected anything different really. She took a seat, crossing one leg over the other and patiently waiting to be noticed, knowing that it could be up to a minute before the man behind the desk noticed her. 

"Ah, Hill," he greeted her exactly sixty seconds later (she'd been counting), looking up from the papers he'd been scrawling his signature and initials over since before she'd walked into the door. "Glad you got up here so fast. I got somethin' for you."

"And what would that be, Captain Fury?" Maria asked, blue eyes sparkling with amusement at her old friend and captain. Considered for the most part a stern and unyielding man by most of the crew, she had seen often that he was a kind soul unless provoked with a penchant for swearing like a sailor.

"Ain't Captain no more, Hill. Fleet Admiral now. Got promoted this mornin'. These," he pushed forward the sheets of papers he'd been signing and initialing, "are your promotion papers as well." He pushed the papers over, grinning a bit at the wide-eyed woman.

Maria stared at her long time friend, confused. Fury had long talked about retiring off and letting someone "younger and with two workin' eyes" take over his position but no one had ever believed the one-eyed giant of a man. Nick Fury had lost the eye about a decade earlier when his last ship had come under fire by a Klingon vessel hoping to start a fight and he'd worn an eyepatch ever since. It had not stopped him from being an amazing captain, however. But the words on the paper confirmed his words; she was being promoted from first officer to Captain of the U.S.S  _Shield_ , current flagship after the unexplained vanishing of the U.S.S  _Avenger_ , five years earlier.

"Captain, sir?" Maria asked carefully, frowning at the papers.

"Yes, captain. You more than deserve it. Go on, sign," he waved a hand at her, rolling his single eye at her in playful, amused exasperation.

Maria scrawled her signature down on it quickly, not bothering to hide her smile now. Captain of the U.S.S  _Shield_! The flagship of Starfleet! 

"Thank you, sir," she said, calm despite the overjoyed shine in her eyes. "I won't let you down."

"I know you won't," Fury took the papers and slid them into a file, nodding. 

Maria stood, knowing she was dismissed but hesitated. No one had gone to search in years but perhaps...

"Sir," she began, letting formality slip into her words. "Would it be acceptable for me to gather the crew up and take the  _Shield_  out to the  _Avenger's_  last known sighting? A fresh pair of eyes could do some good and we might find some evidence of where she went and what happened to her."

Fury frowned up at her, worried. "Now, Hill, I know you're ambitious, but we sent Starfleet's best and no one found a sign of that ship. What makes you think you will?" Honest curiosity filtered through the syllables of his voice; Starfleet wanted the  _Avenger_  found badly and it might be worth sending another ship out to look.

"Nothing, sir, but I do think some fresh eyes and fresh minds might help. Admiral, we all learned about the  _Avenger_  at the Academy, we all know her story. If she and her crew are out there, they deserve to be found." 

Fury leaned back, bracing his arms on the rests of his chair and steepling his fingers before him. She had a point, that was true. "Very well. Permission granted, Captain Hill, but I want steady reports and for you to be in contact with Starfleet at all times."

"Of course, sir," she replied with a nod. "Permission to take Coulson on as my first officer?"

"Permission granted. Now get your ass out of my office and get to space."

\--

Maria walked down out of the Admiral's office and went to gather her stuff. She had a young ensign take them to the loading deck for her then left to find the man she wanted as her first officer. It did not take her long to locate him, sitting reading some reports on something or another and looking as stern as ever. Phil Coulson was, as ever, dressed in a sharp suit. She kicked his leg playfully as he looked up.

"Come on, Suit. We're going to space." She took his arm and linked hers through it in an easy show of familiarity, leading his towards the loading dock. Maria had already sent out signals to the rest of the  _Shield's_  crew, telling them to be ready for departure in no less than five hours.

"And where," sighed Coulson, "are we going?" He was not at all surprised that she had come running to find him; Coulson had known that she was going to be promoted and knew Maria well enough to know that the very first thing she'd want to do was run off exploring.

"Space, the final frontier!" She exclaimed with a laugh before sobering. "We've been granted permission by Admiral Fury to - wait, aren't you going to ask why Fury isn't here?"

The older man rolled his eyes at her. "No. He told me two days ago you were being promoted after he was raised to Fleet Admiral. Now, what have we been given permission for?"

Maria huffed, irked, as they walked along. "We're going to search for the  _Avenger_."

Coulson dug his heels into the ground and forced her to turn and face him, staring flatly at her. "You have to be kidding. Maria, no one has seen anything of the  _Avenger_  in  _five years_. You're not going to find her on one trip. Not even the best search and rescue ships found her."

Maria nodded, giving him that. "But we've been cleared for as long as we need. Fury wants them found, Phil.  _Starfleet_  wants them found. Besides, don't you want to be able to say you found your idol?" She grinned at him and he blushed a bit. Coulson idolized Captain Rogers and had always wanted to meet him.

"Fine," he muttered. "When this gets us all killed, do  _not_  come crying to me."

They ran into Clint Barton on the way to the loading docks as well and he greeted them with an easy nod and a grin. "Sup, you two? Congrats on your promo,  _mon_   _capitan_ ," he teased Maria, smiling. "Where we off to?"

Maria rolled her eyes at him but her answer was somber. "We've been given permission to look for the  _Avenger_."

Clint sobered immediately, the grin sliding off of his face. His brother had been on the Avenger and was, as with the rest of the crew, presumed to be dead. Clint had been young when his brother had first been taken on by Starfleet and had been more than a bit resentful with his sibling for leaving. The news of his brother's presumed death had been a hard blow.  "Oh, well," he said, clearly at a loss for words. "Um. Cool."

They loaded in silence, eager to be going. The U.S.S  _Shield_  had not been out for a few months and her crew was beginning to feel antsy from it. They'd signed up for Starfleet to go into space, not sit around on their asses, after all.

An hour later, they docked in on the U.S.S  _Shield_. The ship had gained her name for obvious reasons; she bore the shape of a kite shield from centuries long ago. She was a beauty in bright white with her name and designation number emblazoned across her back. She had been built just after the  _Avenger_  vanished and had been the flagship ever since. 

"Hill!" A sharp voice called out and Maria bit back a groan as she turned to face the bearded face of their chief engineer, Tony Stark. "Congrats on the promotion. We're out to look for the  _Avenger_?" He questioned as he fell into step, heading for the bridge along with her and the other two men.

"Yes," she said calmly, stepping onto the elevator and waiting until they had all entered before pressing the button. "Admiral Fury cleared it. We're to stay out as long as we need."

"Captain on the bridge!" 

She waved a hand at the members who stood, silently expressing permission for them to go back to their jobs. "Natasha, good to see you," Maria said, nodding to the red-haired woman who had alerted the crew members of her arrival. 

"And you, Captain, congratulations," the Russian communications officer said with a nod.

"Bruce, Thor, good to see you again too. Thor, how is Jane?"

The big blond grinned, looking like a puppy at the mention of his master. "She's good, thank you," he said, voice lightly accented with a Norwegian accent. "Baby number two's on the way. We're thinking it's a girl, she's due in April next year."

"Congratulations. Give her my best, please," Maria said as she sat down. "Jarvis, open ship-wide communications, please."

_"Of course, Captain Hill. Ship-wide communications now open."_

All around the ship, people paused in what they were doing as the sound of the comms opening clicked to life, giving their full attention to their new captain.

"Good afternoon, everyone. I apologize for the sudden call but we have been given a mission of the utmost importance to Starfleet. We are being sent out to search for any and all traces of the U.S.S  _Avenger_ , which as you all know was lost five years ago. This mission could turn dangerous but we are to look for them for as long as we can do so. We will depart in three hours. Thank you."

Maria leaned back in the chair and sighed, crossing one leg over the other and looking around. "So we know that the  _Avenger_  was last sighted not too far away from Ferenginar and that her last known reports also came from around the same area. So, we'll start in that area, explore the smaller planets and satellites there, see what we can or cannot find and where it leads us."

"And if we don't find anything?" Tony asked, arching a brow at her. Tony Stark was an interesting individual; he was wealthier than most of Starfleet combined and had been a weapons manufacturer for some time until deciding suddenly to shut that portion of his company down and join Starfleet. His father, Howard Stark, had assisted in the building of much the fleet, including the  _Avenger_.

"There has to be something," Bruce murmured; he was a quiet, well-mannered man with a temper to be feared if angered, the chief medical officer on the ship. "A ship as large and well known as the  _Avenger_  doesn't just disappear without a trace."

The Captain nodded. "If we can't find anything, we'll go over to Ferenginar and ask around; someone has to have seen something, there's no doubting that. There will be evidence somewhere, we just have to look." Maria had the utmost confidence that she and her crew would find the  _Avenger_  or at least some trace of her. Bruce was right, a ship just did not vanish and stay gone for five years without a trace of evidence. 

When the  _Avenger_  had first vanished, Starfleet had only been able to dedicate a week for her search. Tensions between the Federation and the Klingon empire had been tense and despite losing her flagship, Starfleet as well as the Federation had decided that the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few. The decision had been controversial and many people had been angry about it but there had not been another option at that point.

They spent the next few hours discussing plans and strategy, arguing just a little bit with one another but all good-naturedly. They'd been on missions together for years and all knew one another well enough to be relaxed and comfortable in each other's presence. Finally, Maria shook her head and straightened on her chair.

"Alright, enough. Let's go do some digging. Thor, get us off this damn dock and take us to warp."

"Yes ma'am," the helmsman said, carefully undocking them from the station, turning the ship around and setting it to warp. 

"Hit it."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late. I've had it written for quite some time and just never really edited it through. It's hastily edited and I'll come back soon and given it a good once over but I just want it up, so here you go.

"Clint, you met Rogers, right? What was he like?" Maria asked as they headed along in warp, head resting on her fist.

The arms specialist gave an awkward shrug. "I don't really meet him, we were just introduced once when I was younger. Must'a been...oh, I dunno, ten, twelve years ago? Something like that. Was when Barney went off with him on the _Avenger_. He was a cool dude, really; smart, funny, really patriotic and all American. He was young then, too, just when he got his rank as Captain. He was kinda annoying, really. A little stuck up but...not a bad guy, I suppose."

"He had the _Avenger_ longer than anyone else," Stark mused from where he lounged lazily in a chair, sipping a whiskey.

"Yeah," Clint agreed. "He took her on a lot of missions too. I think they spent more time in space than half the fleet combined."

Maria chuckled softly though her gaze saddened and she looked over at Bruce. "Do you think there's a chance?"

The doctor shifted under the sudden scrutiny he found himself subject of. "I don't know, Maria. It's possible they're still alive. It's possible the ship was stolen through a wormhole or something; it wouldn't the first time it happened, of course. But five years is a long, long time. Even if any of them are still alive, I have no idea what sort of condition they might be in."

Her jaw worked a bit as she grit and ground her teeth, stopping only when Bruce's brown eyes narrowed on her. "Either way, we'll search. If nothing else, we can bring some peace to..." she glanced at Clint. "Well, to the families."

"Is it possible that the ship did come under fire, as was suspected?" Thor asked, turning to face Tony who was the expert on all things engineering; he was also good with weapons too, though not half as good as Barton.

"It's very possible. In fact, I'm certain that's what happened. If so, then I shudder to think of the size of the other ship or whatever it was. The Avenger was no tiny vessel, after all," Tony said, frowning.

Clint nodded. "He's right. And as flagship, she'd've been armed to the teeth; not easily taken."

"Unless," Tony murmured, "something took out their systems."

Maria shook her head. "She had state-of-the-art systems, nearly unhackable, come on, Tony, your father built it, you know that."

"And we know that something caused them to suddenly stop transmitting and go completely offline. We don't even know what might have gone on just before they stopped transmitting because the entire ship vanished. My dad was good, Hill, but even he was fallible." Tony's voice turned harsh, as it always did when talking about his father.

"What could have done that?" Natasha asked from the other side of the bridge, coming over to stand by Maria's chair.

Tony shrugged, thinking. "A ship with better tech? Some sort of virus, either living or non? I don't know - that's the point, no one knows. No one will know until we find the goddamn ship or someone who was there."

"Captain, we're coming up on the last coordinates of the Avenger," Thor said before anyone else could speak.

Maria sat up again, the lines around her eyes tightening as she frowned. The ship smoothed out of warp just seconds later and as the _Shield_ gently eased to a halt, Maria stood up. "Alright, Stark, Barton, Coulson, take one of the pods and go out there. Search. See if you can find anything. Keep in constant radio contact and take weapons. We're taking no chances on this at all."

The three nodded and went to do as she said. Maria was agitated, it showed in the tension of her shoulders, worried and hopeful at the same time.

"Natasha, keep contact with them at all times. Thor, shields up, fifty percent, just as a caution."

The two did so as Maria sat back down, fingers smoothing over her uniform slowly. There would be little to do for the next few hours except wait.

\--

Stark eased the pod down onto one of the smaller planets within the system surrounding Ferenginar and shut her down. The team that had been sent were armed and suited, breathing through masks to filter out the harsh chemicals prevelant in this system. They exited slowly, looking around the barren landscape. Stark noticed it first.

"Okay, wait, hang on," he said, voice faintly distorted due to the mask. He pointed to some of the outcroppings of rocks nearby. "Look at that. That looks like scorch marks."

Clint and Phil turned to look as well and slowly moved forward to go and examine them. The rocks held obvious markings of having been burnt suddenly and quickly, at a high temperature for a very short time.

"Like an explosion," Clint whispered, voice ragged as he drew in a breath.

"Captain, you seeing this?" Tony asked, panning over it with a small camera. The marks were black but looked old, with faint markings on top from dust flying and other things striking the rock.

" _I see it_ ," Maria said through the comms; her voice was grim. " _Get samples of that and let's test it. Maybe we can find out what caused it_."

"Gentlemen," Coulson said suddenly; he had walked a ways off and was staring down at something in the ground. He prodded it with a booted foot, frowning heavily through his mask. "I have something here."

Tony and Clint walked over carefully and both of them sucked in a pained breath when they saw what it was. Just barely visible, exposed due to the wind whistling softly through the area, was a piece of metal with the letters _ER_ on it. Tony reached down and picked it up, swearing quietly when he realized what it was.

"Yeah," he said softly. "Yeah, she was here. I think this was the last place she was before whatever happened."

" _Get that back up to here. It's evidence that she was definitely here_." Maria's order came through the comm sharply, her voice pinched with raw worry. " _Do you think she blew up, Stark_?"

"I don't know, Captain," the engineer said slowly, looking at the piece of metal. "There's some marks here that might be from sudden, high heat but the piece is so eroded I can't tell for sure. We'll have to test it as best we can."

"Alright," Maria sighed heavily. "Alright, come on back to the _Shield_ , we can dock for a while at Ferenignar, refuel, get some supplies, and see where the trail leads next."

"Got it, Cap," Tony said. He carefully placed the piece of metal in a small container, just in case it had become irradiated and needed to be kept away from anyone. With that done, the three turned and began to walk off towards the pod in the distance.

"You think the _Avenger_ blew up, don't you, Tony?" Clint asked softly, looking over at the engineer.

Tony nodded. "There's more evidence that she came under fire and was either captured or destroyed than anything else. They found no evidence of her warping to get away, no evidence that she'd returned fire but evidence that she'd been fired upon. Whatever found her, I think it destroyed her. And," he shook the container holding the piece of metal, "I think this is all that's left of her."

"Damn," Clint swore softly, shaking his head. "What the fuck could have taken out Starfleet's best ship, though?"

"A better ship," Coulson replied grimly. "Klingon, maybe. They have the technology, after all."

"If Klingon did it, surely we'd know. It's been five years, we'd be at war right now if it had been them," Tony pointed out.

"Not if they didn't want anyone to know," Coulson muttered.

Suddenly, Barton stumbled and tripped, catching himself on his hands and rolling to his back in a perfectly executed manuever that would have let him leap back up immediately but for the fact that he saw what he'd tripped over.

Jutting up from the soil, eroded from time, wind, and sand, painfully white in the darkened landscape, was a bone.


End file.
